Girl ‘starves’ to death as family fails to link Aadhaar, ration card
RANCHI: An 11-year-old girl from Simdega allegedly died of starvation after her family’s ration card became unusable due to failure in linking it with Aadhaar, an independent probe by a group of right to food activists revealed on Sunday. Santoshi Kumari died on September 28 after starving for four days in absence of ration at home, her mother Koili Devi told the activists.
She alleged her family had not received ration since February. The deceased girl used to get at least one meal a day at school but it was closed due to Durga Puja in September, making her entirely dependent on the government’s food distribution system.
Santoshi, who lived with her parents in Karimati village of Jaldega block in Simdega, complained of severe stomach ache and cramps on September 27. She died within 24 hours, her mother said.
Jaldega block development officer Sanjay Kumar Kongari confirmed that the family’s name was struck off the list of beneficiaries after failure in Aadhaar card seeding. He, however, said the minor died due to malaria.
Dheeraj Kumar, one of the activists involved in the probe, said the mandate of linking Aadhaar with all public welfare schemes played the culprit in the case. “The family was not receiving ration due to the government’s mandate for Aadhaar seeding,” he said.
The Centre and state government’s stand on making Aadhaar seeding mandatory for all welfare schemes, including mid-day meal (MDM), has drawn flak from activists and politicians. However, the state government has been running aggressive campaigns for Aadhaar enrolment and seeding here.
The challenges faced by the impoverished family due to failure in seeding were highlighted by local activists to Simdega deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri on August 21. But the family received ration card only after seeding on October 10, almost a fortnight since the girl’s death, the activists said.
Bhajantri did not respond to HT’S phone calls.
State food and public distribution director Sunil Kumar Sinha said a team had inspected the case on Friday and their report was awaited. He added that the district grievance redressal officer had been asked to submit a report to the department too.